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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Daisy's Top Ten Books of 2011

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

I hope you have all recovered from the food-induced sleepiness that is always sure to hit me at Christmas and have had a wonderful time with your loved ones!

On to the business part of this Top Ten Tuesday, this week's topic:
The Top Ten books you read in 2011

This is gonna be hard for me, cause I want to list so many, but here goes.

1. The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss: I have waited SO LONG for this book!! And it was AMAZING! If you haven't read the first book in this series, the Name of the Wind, and you enjoy fantasy, you should read it, cause it's awesome! Also, I need the next book, like yesterday!

2. The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab: this book! THIS BOOK! It was so insanely amazing I wrote a gushing review about it! This book made me believe in fairytales again and it was wonderfully beautiful!

3. Witchlanders by Lena Coakley: EPIC FANTASY! I love fantasy, as you can probably guess from my list and this one was fabulous! I wonder how this has not gotten a lot of buzz, cause it's amazing! This is a book I want to shove at everyone and make them read it, and bonus: this book works for boys as well as girls. Virtually no romance, but lots of amazing storytelling.

4. Delirium by Lauren Oliver: I was a bit hesitant to read this at first, but OMG, this was SO GOOD! I didn't want to stop reading this and the ending left me needing cuddles and wishing I already had the next one waiting for me, cause this wait is SLOWLY KILLING ME! I am so pre-ordering Pandemonium...

5. The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley: this book took me by surprise, as I hadn't expected to love it so much! It is a pretty clean historical and contemporary romance novel as the main character travels back and forth in time and it is simply wonderful! I felt shocked, I cried, I was yelling for them to KISS ALREADY!! And I didn't care it got me funny looks!

6. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson: another fantasy, this was a good fantasy year it seems ;) I LOVED this book! It has a strong female lead and I'm dying to find out what happens next for Elisa! The Godstone is fascinating!

7. The Demon King, The Exiled Queen and the Gray Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima: I am naming the whole series, because it was fabulous! And another series I would give to a boy (I'm making my boyfriend read them right now). I love the main characters Han and Raisa! They are both so beyond amazing! And I love to hate the 'bad guys' in this one, which is always fun :)

8. Unearthly by Cynthia Hand: so, confession: angel books haven't really been working so well for me, but THIS ONE DID!! Seriously, there's virtually no preaching and Clara is wonderful and I am so Team Tucker with his amazing boy-ness being swoonworthy and all! I have been lucky enough to have already read Hallowed, and it is also amazing!

9. The Kingdom of Gods by N.K. Jemisin: I have fallen in love with this whole series and I think I can safely say this one is my favourite of the trilogy! It focuses on Sieh and is just wonderful. I read this during the Dewey 24-hour Read-a-Thon and didn't once feel the inclination to sleep. It was THAT good.

10. Die For Me by Amy Plum: REVENANTS! They are SO cool! Seriously, I loved this book! I am also so pre-ordering Until I Die :)

And, cause you really didn't think I could narrow it down to just 10 (you didn't right?:

11. Princess for Hire and The Royal Treatment by Lindsey Leavitt: SO EXTREMELY CUTE! These are the first 2 books in a MG series and it is fabulous! I love the whole idea of substituting for princesses! I wish I had a little girl in my life I could give these books to!

12. Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George: another MG and ADORABLE! I had a huge grin on my face while I was reading this and I loved every minute of it! As the abovementioned Princess for Hire series, I would love to have a little girl I could give this too!

So, that's my list. How does yours compare? There are lots of books I think I'll see on all of your lists that have not made mine for the simple fact that I have not read them yet (I am thinking Divergent, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Shatter Me, Lola and the Boy Next Door, The Night Circus...). Let's hope they're on next years list :)

Daisy! As always, you have some great books on your list - most of which I am now dying to check out. I definitely trust your judgment when it comes to books and can't wait to read some of the ones on this list!

I loved that you couldn't stick with just 10. That's just way too hard. And YAY for Die for Me. I love those Revenants! If I hadn't read Delirium and Unearthly in 2010 they both would be on my list, too.

I really should check out the series by Patrick Rothfuss if it's as good as you say it is.

Ooh! There are so many books on your list that are still on my TBR pile. I've owned The Wise Man's Fear for almost 2 years now and I haven't read it yet. I need to get on that. I HAVE read some Susanna Kearsley, though (The Winter Sea), and she's great. I need to read The Rose Garden, too. I could pretty much say, "I need to read that, too" for all of the books on your list except Delirium (awesome), The Near Witch (fab!)...and that's it, lol. Thanks for reminding me of these books!

Oh my goodness! I completely forgot to add Princess for Hire to my list! I love that series so so much! I did add Lindsey Leavitt's YA, Sean Griswold's Head, though. Love that one too! If you haven't read Sean Griswold's Head, I highly recommend it!

I love your list! I absolutely love the Seven Realms series! I read the 1st 2 books last year, but still haven't read The Gray Wolf Throne! I also loved The Name of the Wind, but still haven't read The Wise Man's Fear. I also loved Witchlanders & The Near Witch :) The rest are on my tbr list!

I loved Delirium but it didn't make my list because I read an ARC in 2010. I did read Pandemonium this year and it was amazing!

I am glad to see The Girl of Fire and Thorns on your list. It is probably my second favorite YA debut this year. I also loved The Rose Garden though I prefer The Winter Sea. Fantastic list! I will have to check out Witchlanders sometime.

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